Ashes and Tea
by pikachu203
Summary: Five years after the collapse of the metaverse, Akira Kurusu has settled into a peaceful life, working as a barista in Leblanc. The world, however, is not devoid of problems. When an explosion rocks Yongen-Jaya, he fears he's lost everything again. Post-canon shuake. Re-uploaded and hopefully fixed...


Akira was deep in the work day at Leblanc when his phone buzzed. A text came through from Goro: "I'm stressed. I'm going out drinking tonight."

Careful to slip his phone under the counter, Akira texted back: "Alright, be safe. If you need me to pick you up, just call."

The response came quickly: "I will. See you later."

The rest of the day was relatively normal, plenty of regulars, a few new faces, and the ever present buzz of the news. The gruff anchorman was explaining a recent string of bombings by the terrorist group the masked circle. Akira sighed. Even without the metaverse the world still had deeply flawed people.

Akira continued brewing coffee, cleaning counters, chatting with regulars, and lounging in the slow periods.

It wasn't until just before closing that a massive bang cracked outside of the building. It was so immensely loud that Akira's ears rang and felt like they would bleed.

He stumbled, disoriented, from behind the counter, making his way out to see what happened. He was struck as he exited with the acrid smell of smoke, fire, and burning flesh. Still feeling off, he steadied himself on the door and tried to figure out where the smells and sounds came from.

The bar a few buildings down from Leblanc was an inferno. Smoke poured out onto the street, glass was shattered across the pavement, and people were rushing away from the building.

...the… bar… near Leblanc was on fire.

Goro!

Akira didn't think. He ran down the street, off balance and clumsy. Without thinking he rushed into the burning building. He screamed into the smoke, burning his throat. He could barely keep his eyes open, but all he could see were unmoving, burning forms all around. His head was spinning; his lungs filled with smoke. Tears leaked from his eyes. He wasn't sure if they were from the smoke or the overwhelming sense of failure.

Where was he? Akira hadn't seen Goro run out, so…

He didn't feel like he moved his own body. It dragged itself out into the street where he collapsed to the pavement, hands curled around his head in a futile attempt at self comfort. He couldn't feel anything. It wasn't his body retching and coughing from the smoke inhalation. It wasn't his hands that felt achingly hot. He was like a passenger in a vehicle that was out of control, crashing through the trees.

He's gone…

Akira sobbed. He couldn't say it out loud. He couldn't do anything. He was stuck, frozen to the spot. He'd crashed.

* * *

Akechi overheard about another terrorist attack while sipping an overly sweet cocktail at Crossroads. Initially he lazily listened along, until he heard where it had occurred. It was in Yogen-Jaya, close to Leblanc.

Akira…

Drinks didn't matter now. He barely remembered to leave money for Lala before rushing over to the train station.

He tried calling Akira. The phone rang thirteen times before going to a cheery voicemail. Worry wormed its way up Goro's throat. He tried to swallow his emotions on the train ride over, but continued calling to no avail.

It's going to be fine. His phone is just dead. His phone is just dead; he'll be fine.

Of course he'd be okay. Akira was a smart guy. He'd be sitting safely away from the fire, probably calming himself down.

Regardless Goro felt the need to give him a hug. Holding Akira in his arms would alleviate the uncomfortable feeling in his throat.

The train ride was an eternity before he rushed over to the backstreets. Even if he didn't know the way, the thin plume of smoke rising was an obvious hint.

The street was crowded with police, fire engines, and ambulances. The fire had subsided.

Goro slipped through, trying to surreptitiously reach Leblanc. He stopped in his tracks when he got a better look at the alleyway.

Akira was curled up, his knees to his chest, hands wrapped around his head, sobbing. A concerned paramedic was kneeling next to him, calmly trying to coax information out of him.

Goro was never fantastic at showing and dealing with emotions, but he was overcome with a need to run over to protect Akira.

As he knelt down the paramedic tiredly asked, "Are you the 'he' he keeps mumbling about?"

Goro was already carefully pulling Akira's hands down. "What do you mean? What happened to him?" He didn't mean for his tone to be as accusatory as it sounded.

"We found him out here." The paramedic explained. "He's been unresponsive, just mumbling 'he's gone' repeatedly. I assume he means you, then."

Goro modded, keeping as calm a look on his face as he could muster. His heart ached. "If he isn't physically hurt, I can… take it from here."

The paramedic sighed. "He is in stable condition. If he has any serious physical health issues please call us." He paused. "Are you certain you can handle this, sir?"

Goro nodded, carefully pulling Akira up into his arms. "He needs some rest, I think."

Akira kept mumbling to himself, sniffling softly.

Goro shuffled out one hand to flip the sign on Leblanc from open to closed before slipping inside. It was eerily quiet compared to the chaos outside. Akira finally stirred a bit in his arms, moving slightly as if he was trying to lean in closer.

They needed more privacy. Goro carried him up to the now dusty attic. It was far more cramped then their apartment but it would have to do for now. He settled Akira down in his old bed, and sat next to him, softly petting his hair. "It's okay. I'm here. It'll be okay."

Akira drifted off slowly, exhausted. Goro quietly wrapped his arms around him. His worry settled and he fell into a deep sleep.

Akira's dream felt like a memory. He found himself somewhere he hadn't been in a very long time, in the bowels of a cruise ship, staring at two Akechis.

The cognitive fake held up his gun, and a deeply distressed real Akechi pointed one back. Akira wanted desperately to move, to rush in and grab him.

But his legs refused to move. He couldn't open his mouth to scream a warning. The wall crashed down before him. Two bangs rang out. Finally, he was able to open his mouth and scream as loud as he could.

He awoke screaming late in the evening. He wasn't sure where he was, or what was real. It took him a moment to finally feel that he was wrapped in someone's arms.

Akira's breath hitched when he saw who was holding him. "Akechi…"

Goro was already awake from the screaming. "You're awake now. It's okay."

Akira buried his face in Goro's shoulder. He felt the tears start up again. "I… I thought I lost you."

"I could tell." Goro patted his back softly. "You had a nightmare I take it?"

Akira nodded. "You… told me you were going out drinking. I was scared you were in the bar."

"So you ran in to see if you could find me, and thought I was gone? I was in Shinjuku at Crossroads… I'm afraid you can't get rid of me that easily, honey."

Akira chuckled. "Thank you…. Will you stay here tonight… please?"

Goro brushed his hands through Akira's messy hair. "Of course. It's way too late for us to go back to the apartment anyway. I won't leave you."

"You won't leave... Please don't leave me." Akira mumbled.

With that he finally broke down. He let out a dry sob. His grip around Goro tightened. Whatever he said next was so soft it was inaudible.

Goro tsked. "You exhausted and dehydrated yourself trying to take care of me. I suppose it's my turn to take care of you."

"You don't have to-"

Goro cut him off. "Akira, I want to take care of you. You scared me too, okay? Let me make you some tea. You don't have to go back to sleep."

"Thank you… I love you… Please don't leave me." Akira responded softly.

Goro sighed, lifting him up again. "What am I ever going to do with you?"

Goro carried him quietly down the stairs, settling him down in one of the booths. "Just sit here a minute."

Akira was exhausted, but forced himself to stay awake. He didn't want to go to sleep. He didn't want that dream again. He focused his eyes on Goro shuffling behind the counter, pulling out a tea kettle and setting it up to boil. He kept his eyes trained on his boyfriend, watching him struggle to figure out where Sojiro stored the tea he was looking for. He wanted to get up and help but he was too tired to move.

It wasn't long before two cups of tea were settled on the table. Goro sat Akira up, letting him rest his head on his shoulder. "The one on the left is for you. Way too bitter for me."

Akira nodded tiredly, lifting the cup to his lips and sipping. It was perfect. "Thank you."

There was a brief comfortable silence. Akira felt his eyes growing heavy again as he reached the bottom of his cup. "I don't want to go to sleep. Please don't leave me…"

Goro sighed. He felt that he wasn't good enough at expressing his emotions to let Akira know everything he felt through words. "I won't leave you, ever. It's okay to sleep. You need the rest. You've had a hard day."

"I don't… want to have that dream again. I don't want to lose you."

Goro wasn't sure what to say. Akira always had a nasty habit of not revealing everything he felt. Though given the context, it wasn't difficult to realize what the dream was, or how to calm him down. Akira did shout out his last name after all... "You were scared you lost me, so you had a nightmare. I'm here now, though. I'll be sure to only give you sweet dreams."

Akira slowly nodded off. Goro sighed, lifting up his boyfriend and carrying him back to bed. He wrapped his arms around Akira again.

Rest came peacefully and quietly, no trembling or screaming, no creeping nightmares of the past.

Neither woke up in time for work the next day. It didn't matter.


End file.
